The result of the KCS study is the strongest causal evidence to date that aligning intervention to Tier I instruction, known as instructional coherence, helps students learn more and faster — and without additional cost, materials, or staffing. SCORE has worked to understand the findings of this study and how they could be scaled statewide, resulting in a set of recommendations for Tennessee to further incentivize and spread this impactful practice.
Key Findings
- Instructional coherence drives measurable learning gains.
Students receiving instructionally coherent intervention made an average of 1.3 additional months of literacy growth compared to peers receiving traditional intervention. - Instructional coherence maximizes district resources.
Because the high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) used in the classroom often include built-in intervention components, districts can use the same set of materials for both core instruction and intervention — eliminating the need for separate, costly intervention resources. For Knox County, this approach could have saved approximately $2 million, or roughly $530 per student receiving intervention, enabling reinvestment in other critical investments. - Teachers and leaders strongly prefer instructional coherence.
Four out of five teachers who experienced both approaches preferred instructional coherence as it allows them to work more efficiently while keeping students on a unified literacy trajectory. School leaders echoed these benefits, emphasizing that coherence enables more strategic grouping and increases momentum from classroom instruction.
What This Means for Tennessee
After observing early signals of promise, rigorously testing the model with a district partner, and analyzing the results, SCORE has identified practical, scalable next steps for the state to expand access to instructional coherence:
- Align policy and practice by revising relevant policies to ensure student interventions are rooted in an instructionally coherent approach.
- Advance research and model development to identify models for building instructionally coherent systems and practice.
- Increase transparency and support so that Tennessee can best understand how to help promote literacy proficiency for all students.
Together, these actions can help Tennessee ensure every moment a student spends working toward literacy proficiency is cohesive, aligned, and grounded in high-quality instruction.